High Magic Lowlives
A downloadable Tabletop RPG
High Magic Lowlives is a Post-Dungeon Fantasy Tabletop RPG about wizard school dropouts who get into trouble with the Immortal Aristocracy to make coin and build their #brand.
Like old school RPGs this is a game about a crew of weirdos finding subterranean vaults filled with treasure, kicking down doors, beating up guards, setting off traps, and taking home as much coin as you can carry.
Like new school RPGs the mechanics are simple, drive the story forward, and don't rely on a ton of preparation in advance.
Unlike any RPG you've ever played before you can get paid for livestreaming your fight against the jack-o-lantern queen of zabraxas. Your companions would probably prefer you help them survive the fight, but they'll forgive you when you capture their critical hit for all to see.
Clocking in at over 18,000 words, High Magic Lowlives includes:
- A unique system for making up monsters on the fly
- A traditional six-attribute system to more easily use OSR adventures
- A flexible setting with 22 unique backgrounds
- A table named "d666 dating profiles"
- Rules where getting a prosthetic doesn't make you worse at magic
- Speaking of magic, domain-based spellcasting that rewards creativity without breaking the game
- Character creation that helps you answer the question: why am I hanging out with these idiots anyhow?
- An alignment system that defines the universe along the two most important philosophical axis of our time: Jock/Nerd and Prep/Goth
- Guidance on how to run combat initiative-free!
If you're interested in watching the game run live, you can see our Actual Play on the Happy Jacks One Shot Saturday here:
If you're interested in knowing what High Magic Lowlives sounds like, consider the following mixtape we made just for you:
Praise for High Magic Lowlives
"This game is based (in part) on World of Dungeons and Blades in the Dark, and I'm delighted to see the way they've been incorporated as well as the very clever tweaks and interpretations into something new. If you like WoDu or Blades, I recommend it."
- John Harper (Blades in the Dark, World of Dungeons, Lady Blackbird, etc!)
"Dan has created one of the most fun, brilliant, hilarious games I've ever had the chance to play. Not only does it have an incredible premise, it executes that premise perfectly. I haven't laughed this hard reading or playing a game in a long time."
-Spenser Starke (Icarus)
"The tone, the rules, the worldbuilding... everything. When I finally manage to wean my home campaign off 5E, [High Magic Lowlives] is what I want to lead them to. It's so much better at encouraging/allowing the kind of play that ACTUALLY occurs at my tables. A gem. A room of gems, even."
-Tyler Crumrine (Beak, Feather & Bone)
"High Magic Lowlives? More like Yes Magic High-fives!"
-Viditya Voleti (Space Goblins!)
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (55 total ratings) |
Author | Gem Room Games |
Tags | black-hack, Dice, dreamjam, macchiato-monsters, OSR, PbtA, sworddream, Tabletop, Tabletop role-playing game |
Purchase
In order to download this Tabletop RPG you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- New High Magic Lowlives city in 2023!Jan 11, 2023
- Free Adventure! Player Reference! High Magic Lowlives is GO!Oct 01, 2021
- What's Coming in 2020Jan 13, 2020
- Character Sheets & Inventory Rules!Nov 08, 2019
- Lets Talk About DiceNov 04, 2019
- Post Release RoadmapAug 31, 2019
- High Magic Lowlives Launch!Aug 06, 2019
- Final Push to ReleaseJul 31, 2019