BroomstickFighters LLC

13/01/2023

We here at BsF will be supporting and likely joining in on this new endevor. Let's see where we can ttake out 'No Class' system too!

Paizo is proud to announce a new system-neutral Open RPG Creative License, the ORC, which will allow independent game publishers to authorize use of their own game systems for third-party publishers.

21/09/2021

So after some meetings with our writers at GenCon, we're fully back on the horse. Focus has shifted in cleaning up a few things to get the playtest document in the hands of the public so they can get a first taste. A bit more wrap up after that and some art and we're well on our way to launch, later than we wanted, but not giving in!

09/06/2020

So, we follow up our 'remiss in posting post' with silence, it came at an unfortunate time right before things started going a little sideways. So we'll apologize again for this silence, and let you know we've gotten our heads on a little straighter and really dug into some of the work needed to finish up this core book.

First, the conventions we were scheduled to do took a bit hit and some were canceled, some got delayed. That of course took us off our targets. We've regrouped and are watching developments in this, and when it's safe to, we'll get back on getting out there letting you see our rules and setting.

Last night we hit some breakthroughs on a few things int he rules we wanted to clarify and codify. This is a huge step forward as it really wraps up the last of the rule set we felt needed a good looking at. Writing on this started today and hopefully we'll have the areas cleaned up soon. Our hope is once this is all streamlined we can release a 1.0 version of a playtest document to the folks who have supported us and get some feedback. We are excited about where this is going and love how it's coming together, and hopefully we can show you more soon.

20/02/2020

So we have been horribly remiss in posting lately, we don't seem to be really good at this promotion thing... but we wanted to share a few things with you!

First, most of the writing is now down and out of the way. Rules have gone through an edit as well, so we're going to start working on a playtest document here soon. We'll throw up notification on that as soon as we get that ball rolling. We're really excited to share more of the world with you and to get into the gritty bits about how our system works.

Second though, we've retained Studio de Sade to help us out getting some art in this thing, and so we're hoping to showcase some previews of that as well. We're giving you a little tease here today!

14/11/2019

If you have ever been curious as to what 60000 words for a few chapters of a brand new RPG game looks like, this is it.

14/11/2019

So, we're coming to a Symposium near you soon!!

Come demo a game of Purgatory, and try a new dice system in the Weird West genre. Presented by Broomstick Fighters Purgatory, the newly funded role playing game, is set in a Mythos based Weird West…

12/11/2019

So quick wrap up to the weekend; AcadeCon was another great experience for us; and we got a ton of Purgatory testing done. A few new folks were introduced to our world and we got some feedback from some folks who playtested last year in regards to some of the new changes.

Currently the Rules are pretty close to the final playtest draft. We're sending some notes up and one or two little things need ironed out and we'll be sending the last bit both to playtesters, and for the first copy edit! It's been pretty exciting to see how this is coming together. Some great writers have helped us forge this into something we think is a great system.

We're going to try not to go too quiet during this time, but we're also going to not make too many big announcements either. As we're wrapping this portion up we're starting to prep for the future of both the "No Class' system and Purgatory's next few books! Exciting times ahead!

09/11/2019

Set up and ready to run demos for Purgatory and the No Class Dice system at AcadeCon

08/11/2019

Acadecon 2019 we are in you. If you are in the Dayton Ohio area or attending Acadecon stop by our table to get your preview of Purgatory and a brand new table top RPG system. AcadeCon

05/11/2019

Broomstick Fighters and Purgatory will be at AcadeCon this weekend (Nov. 8-10) Dayton Convention Center, Dayton Ohio.

29/10/2019

So we have gotten pretty quiet recently after some big build up, as we have our heads down into the last rush at getting the Core Book all lined up. The work is trickling in, from writing to art, and we're getting our copy editor ready to roll as well as getting ready to look at how this whole thing is going to come together. On top of that, we're 2 weeks our from Acadecon and need to have ourselves ready for that! Our apologies for losing touch over here with you all!

As a way of apology we're going to shoot you a little music to get you in the mood! We have long considered this our sort of unofficial "theme song":

New album “Elegies for Theremin & Voice” out now! :) https://www.carolinaeyck.com/elegies ----- Loving this music! :) Composed by Morricone for the legendary...

03/10/2019

So for the Worldbuilder Wednesday we're going to look at some of the little changes we've made which work their way into one of our adventures.

In real world history the town of Indianola Texas was a major port to the war effort and the end of a local rail line, the 2nd largest port in Texas behind Galveston and the home of the Army Corps camel training program. It was severely damaged by the 1875 hurricane, but rebuilt until wiped out later in time.

With our setting starting in 1876, we decided that most of the hurricane ended up a worse fate and the residents of Indianola had moved north to Lavaca (later, Port Lavaca). The hurricane was stronger than historically reported in our world and some of the strange residents of Indianola that moved into Lavaca are reported as "oddly behaving" having a look that folks just can't place (but that's only hearsay you see...) Deep down people feel like they're not integrating as they should, and local fishermen on the bay report some of the houses left standing still have lights on. One wonders why the sea and swamp didn't claim it all, but Lavaca has been too busy taking over port duties to notice some of these changes.

01/10/2019

We're getting our first look internally at a first draft for one of our chapters for the Core Rulebook. Because of what our setting encompasses (and you have likely already seen for our requests for feedback) we have some things we need to touch on in the work. We're going to let the writing speak for itself here though:

"The default setting for Purgatory is an alternate-history American Wild West, and while the “alternate-history” is very pronounced, the fact that there are still lots of American Wild West trappings brings with it a lot of… baggage. Baggage like the shadow of slavery, racism, genocide of native Americans, sexism, and more. If you’ve read the setting information earlier in the book, you can see how we’ve made a point to address these things. However, it isn’t so easy to dismiss these things from our collective consciousness. This is why, when you play Purgatory, we encourage you not to default to the tropes your mind conjures about the Old, Wild, or Weird West, but rather, give yourself and players permission to purposefully break historical conventions. Make a woman sheriff the first your players encounter. Make an open and accepted transgender person the mayor. Perhaps the first adventure is defending a native American city from rampaging cowboys. Subvert the tropes as a default instead of simply repeating what has already been done before. This gives both you, the GM, and the players permission to play who they want, do what they want, and feel comfortable with their choices."

27/09/2019

So for our throwback this week, we're going to talk a little about AcadeCon 2019 and last years appearance. We're proud to be one of the corporate sponsors again this year of this event, they treated us great last year and the response we got was great from their community, so we're looking forward to giving you a big preview of Purgatory.

For those who visited last year, you know we like to present things visually. I personally am a proponent of having a table of minis in a roleplaying game. I think it can add a layer beyond pure descriptive play and makes a fun hobby to delve into. It's about the 2nd anniversary of acquiring a 3d printer as well and my force has grown to a 2nd one as well. Currently we're starting prep for this years AcadeCon by getting some prints rolling and getting more painting done. Hopefully we'll have a nice setup for you to demo on this year!

26/09/2019

For Worldbuilder Wednesday we're going to look at the namesake of our game, the town of Purgatory!

In our real world, the Purgatory claim is now a Ski Lodge located between Durango and Silverton Colorado, near to the near the famous Graysill mines (where early uranium was mined for a secret project in WW2). The area was heavily infested with small mining claims and small towns supporting them. In the later years (beyond our timeline) the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge would move most of these towns to the namesake towns of the RR line.

In our would however, it is a nice peice of flat land that the government can use to experiment with after quintessence is found in the early years of the Civil War there. This is integral to the development of the Purgatory world, as it forms the backbone of some of the changes the world has undergone. Our timeline starts soon after something major happens in Purgatory to awaken people to the new world that they will soon have to face...

24/09/2019

So today we talk about one of our rules sets that we feel makes us a bit different that other systems, range and fi****ms.

Now with range we've adopted a pretty commonly used device from more story oriented systems, using range bands. This is the idea that instead of tracking precise distances we use a set of terms that encompass a general idea of how far 2 objects are apart. Cut down to it's basics we have 'Engaged', 'Close', 'Medium', 'Long', and 'Extreme' (all subject to change before publication of course). In our terms, Medium encompasses the farthest ranges a pistol can shoot.

On the other side though, most target numbers in other systems we have found give a flat number for each range or band. But fi****ms are designed specifically to perform best at certain ranges which influences their development. To model this we instead use a base target number for each range band on a per weapon basis. So something like a Derringer might have a profile that looks like 6/8/-/-/- and a C**t SAA 8/6/8/-/- a rifle like a Wi******er '73 will have -/10/8/6/10. Each of these allowing for us to give more unique profiles for iconic weapons of the Old Weird West.

17/09/2019

We're going to talk about something that we're hoping makes us stand apart from some other games today for Mechanics Monday (yes we also know we missed last week, it's been a crunch lately), the way our skill system works.

We felt some games get too trapped in the cycle of skill/attribute are always combine. We decided that we wished to get away from this to help us drive the narrative style of play. Because of how we arraigned our attributes, we looked into narrowing our skills down so that they could call on almost any attribute.

Our example here is the classic concept of Athletics! Our skill (as it is currently developing, subject to change by playtesting :D ) calls on 3 of the 4 physical attributes depending on the activity you are trying to succeed at. So the idea of doing things like climbing, lifting, or even sprinting would all involve using you Potency as you skill bonus on a roll, where as treading water or distance running would call on your character's Robustness. Gymnastics, games of catch and throwing (discus, javelin, the like) would call on Coordination.

By breaking down many of our skills this way, it allows us to narrow things down and give characters more chances and options to use (and buy) skills they might not if they were tied to only 1 attribute. Hopefully this will help in setting us apart from some other systems in the same vein.

05/09/2019

So for WorldBuilder Wednesday we're going to go into who our own weird real history can influence our Purgatory game world history.

In this case, the Mayan's 2nd Republic of Yucatán... Recognized as an independent nation by the British Empire in the 1850s for its trade value, and offered as a colony to the United States for their struggles against the Mexicans it becomes an excellent center point to looking at how a few acts would change history. Because of many changes that will incrementally happen however, when the world of Purgatory opens in 1876, the Republic stands still with the Emissaries of the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire and War leading their people.

We're not going to reveal all the details now but this is how real histories will be taken into account as we expand on how Purgatory's history will diverge.

03/09/2019

So, way back when we were supposed to chat about our Currency of Fortune system... well Mechanics Monday is here, so here we go!

All of the No Class games will use this as something to aid during the game. In Purgatory we've themed it as old timey currency. Silver Dollars, Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles, Eagles and Double Eagles will allow players to change the flow of the game. From simple dice bonuses to rerolls to even cancling out critical failures, it can be spent to help shape your story.

The Judge (our term right now for your GM) also gets a pool of the currency, and he might even challenge your initiatives with it, but when the Judge spends it, the currency then moves into the player's pool to use.

We're hoping this will help make the tales being told in Purgatory dynamic and fun for the group!

30/08/2019

A simple Throwback Thursday...

The old west as you know it, wasn't the old west as it was. Give serious consideration to tracking down this whole episode and giving it a watch. Some of the information will inform you as to the world we're trying to build in, and you might be surprised at what you don't know about the time period. (We know the show is available on Netflix if you have an account)

The American image of cowboys is a fabrication based on a century-old circus act. Subscribe: http://full.sc/1s9KQGe Watch Full Episodes for FREE: http://bit....

28/08/2019

Apologies for missing out on our first Mechanics Monday... we were so busy chatting with a few writers and playtesters about mechanics we missed our window.. but never fear, we've got stuff cooking!

So on this Worldbuilder Wednesday we'll talk of one of the changes that will alter our history, Quintessence. A red ore related to the ferrous iron family. It has been found to have a more reactive discharge when mixed as part of gunpowder.

Quintessence was first found in mining claims in Colorodo and Nevada in 1861 and in 1862 near the claim of Purgatory (Durango, CO) the reaction to explosives was discovered.

More importantly, this ore has formed in areas that other dimensions overlap or gateways to those are located, making it an important source for practitioners of magic. The storage of this magical energy can form a direct conduit allowing for new sorts of magic.

All of these properties help push the world we know it in a different direction. Although we won't reveal more of that story at this point, it forms one of the cornerstones of building up this setting. But how this all unfolds will shape the world of Purgatory!

19/08/2019

So we're going to embark on a new thing with our social media here, which we'll explain below.

But first we would love to thank all the folks who shared out last week's post and reached out to us to give us feedback; this was a great experience and it looks like it's influenced some folks. I think good things will come from this!

So we're going to change over and attempt to move into posting more every week. Our writers are starting to dig in, and we're lining up a few new folks to help us as well, and we're wanting to get more info in your hands to get more great feedback. So we're going to announce the following schedule of posts:

Mechanic's Mondays: We're going to start discussing the 'No Class' system and some of the Purgatory specific iterations of the rules and mechanics

Worldbuilder Wednesdays: Getting into some of the design of the alternate history around our Purgatory setting

Throwback Thursdays: we're going to try and find some interesting articles the focus on the style of games and settings we're developing. History lessons galore...

We will still have some other updates as we go not in this cycle, talking about upcoming conventions, or announcements of authors, devs, and artists who have joined us interspersed at other times.. but we're going to try and keep true to this for now as we build towards getting our first setting off the ground

19/08/2019

https://youtu.be/cWs4WA--eKU

In a small town in the old west, a lone and weary gunfighter enters a saloon. As he walks through the room surrounded by the people of the town, a voice begi...

13/08/2019

So in discussions with our writers we are looking at some areas that will be considered sensitive, so tonight's post is about soliciting feedback from our growing community on some of this.

The first big one is that with the Yog-Sothothery (Mythos) styles of things, we're going to be delving into cosmic horror and madness. This will set some of the tones for our game but also touch on real world mental health issues. Currently one of our writers has been looking for resources to deal with this in a respectful and sensitive manner. They have also been getting feedback on where to present it within the book. We welcome some extra feedback here as well on the subject.

On top of that, after discussions at GenCon, we're also looking for POC and Native (First Nation) feedback. Out west there were tons more than the old sterotypical cowboy we see in the movies. Being as we have the "white beardy guy" demographic down pretty well, we're looking for other folks to chime in and make sure we represent things in a respectful manner. Feel free to tag folks who might be willing to help us in this endeavor.

Next week we'll start talking a little about the idea of an 'alternate history' and how the setting starts to diverge from the world we knew.

07/08/2019

06/08/2019

So we are all home from a very very successful GenCon, and excited to talk some. This one will be a little longer than usual, so strap in for the ride.

Some of you might not have been at a Con (especially one like GenCon) in a professional manner, but it is a really different beast to approach in this manner. No one on the crew got to bed before 3am, and we met (and conspired) with a ton of people on the future of our projects.. Purgatory and beyond. It is not all business, but we get a chance to see folks face to face who we might not for a whole year to come. It becomes a great chance to network, or just ask questions to get projects flowing correctly. Gonna take a chance to call out some folks specifically who were just awesome for us to get with at GenCon.

We were thrilled to help our friends at Rather Dashing Games sell out of their latest release at the con (and almost all the stock in the booth). There were some good times had at the booth! A huge thanks for helping us get out there and be able to do what we needed to grow ourselves.

We got to host our first freelancer meeting, and discuss how the Purgatory core rulebook will come together. Clifton Wright, Optimistic Chad, and Rusty Zimmerman were phenomenal to make some time in their busy schedules and give us some direct feedback to focus what we're doing! It was some seriously productively used time.

To the conspiracy crew (Kevin R. Czarnecki, Joshua Alan Doetsch, and Ford Fitch), I am so happy for ci**rs in dark rooms and talk of the occult and history. You guys have made some awesome contributions to the game with just that one night. We'll be in contact because we need you guys on board with us.

To Nicholas Van and Robert Volbrecht, a huge thanks to the advice and support you give to us. We are always happy to hear from you folks and can't wait to keep working side by side with you!

To all our friends who asked about helping out with some new ways of promoting and getting involved in Purgatory, we feel very fortunate to have you all involved with us on some of these future projects. I'll not call out names, but you guys are a great asset to us and we need to have more drinks and talks soon!

Last, and most important, a huge shoutout from both Origins and GenCon conversations we had with Jaym Gates. We are so fortunate to have been pointed your direction for some help.. which accidentally led up to something so much bigger. We're happy to get involved with you on the ground floor of this thing (hey, it's her idea though, we're not stealing any more of her thunder on this).

We're not taking a breather yet... today we will have more meetings on art with folks who will get tagged soon enough as working on this project. After this is done though, it will be a few days of rest for us. Hopefully all our friends and fans are home safe and relaxed after such a great convention. Next week, we'll return to start talking more about No Class and Purgatory systems on here! (unless we get sidetracked introducing new folks who are helping on the project)

31/07/2019

These dapper gents are heading to GenCon!!!

30/07/2019

We would like to introduce our 3rd highlighted author, Clifton Lambert.

Clifton Lambert is a freelance author, musician, and tabletop RPG media content creator. He's best known by the name Mr. Johnson, creator of the Arcology Podcast, and founding member of the Shadowcasters Network. He also creates music as Prism Shard, much of which is inspired by the worlds of tabletop gaming and related influences.

Listen to and download music by Prism Shard here: https://soundcloud.com/prism-shard
For hundreds of hours of tabletop gaming podcast and video content: https://shadowcasters.network
Twitter:

Listen to Prism Shard | SoundCloud is an audio platform that lets you listen to what you love and share the sounds you create.

23/07/2019

We would like to introduce the second of the talented writing staff that has agreed to bring Purgatory to life, Russell Zimmerman. The man is a gentleman of the highest caliber. Follow this link to his biography and support this man's endeavors.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7192843.Russell_Zimmerman

Author of Neat, Shaken, and Satellite Reign REBOOT

22/07/2019

We will have EXTREMELY limited supplies of the new print run of Element for sale at Gen Con. We'll also be showing off ALDR, The High Sage and Dwarven Miner Reforged, both due out this Fall. Come by and say hello!