Love this game, somehow didn’t realize version 1.5 existed for 2 years. On page 12, the three Distances are in a low-contrast white with the page background’s off-white. Could you change this? At the moment it’s hard to read.
Finally I'm about to master it! I imagine the number of PCs at the table can influence the difficulty of encounters, right? My golden number is 3 PCs. They're going to have a tougher time than if there were 4, aren't they?
Hey! I've just realized that I've got an old version of the game but don't have access to the newer version, is this a mistake or am I meant to buy the game again for the updated content?
Hi, big fan of your work, I got a group playing LIGHT right now and having a blast, and a few months back we ran a couple games of Slayers and all agreed to come back to it at some point.
One thing I wanted clarification on, if I could-- I noticed that the Tactician was making encounters trivial with their Execute Plan special action. I know you typically eschew the concept of balance, but I wanted to make sure we're interpreting the class correctly. Can they use Execute Plan as often as they like in a round? For example, if the Blade keeps on whiffing, can they keep on replacing the Blade's dice for their combo? Are there any restrictions on usage whatsoever? I noticed that the description specifically says it's not an action, which is what led to the assumption that they can use it on as many targets as many times as they like.
The group I play with is already quite large (six people) so to make a fun fight I already have to have quite a few enemies, but if a Tactician is using their increasingly enormous pool to make every teammate attack hit and every enemy attack miss, I feel like I'd have to balloon enemy ranks to the point of absurdity.
same here, I got the old version as part of the racial justice bundle and its no longer accessible. Is there any way for us to access the either the old or the new versions?
The old version should still be downloadable using the download link in the bundle. It gave me an error page when I first tried it, but it worked for me the second time I tried it. It’s still the old version tho, not 1.5.
This game has been restricted by the author and can not be downloaded. The owner of the page must give permission to those they wish to access the page. If you think this is a mistake, please get in touch with support.
After so very long of loving this game as a text and from afar, I got to run it for a group tonight and had so much more fun than I was even expecting. I ran Alex Rinehart's The Show Must Go On from Harrowing Hunts (Vol 1) and set it in J. R. Zambrano's The Canvas. Truly can't wait to play more and will definitely be working on creating my own Hunts and other bits.
I just bought a copy to run this for my college's tabletop club, I've talked to a few friends who already seem interested. This game seems really good for some of my friends who are less into TTRPGs than me since the rules are so simple, which is definitely a bonus, and at the same time has enough complexity and opportunity to do cool stuff that I'm just as excited to play it.
So, I ran the Lord of the (Un)Dead for two of my gaming groups this week. So GM friendly and the synergies between the classes creates a dynamic flow to combat my players loved. Having run a lot of Drifters you can really see it's influence on this iteration of the system, and that's great. Another great game Spencer.
we recorded a prologue session for our slayers one shot! using a setting from the slayers almanac and a couple third party classes linked in the description! we had a lot of fun, and will definitelyh ave more when we get too combat
You should already own the PDF if you bought a physical copy! If you can't access it for some reason, shoot me a DM on Twitter @GilaRPGs and I'll make sure you have it!
I don't have a Twitter account. Could I reach out by email or Discord? I ordered my physical copy directly through Gila when they went on a clearance sale.
Woah, there's new art and big revisions in the "page content" here. Looks good! I tried downloading the PDF again, but it seems it hasn't been updated yet. Can we expect an update on that soon?
If something rolls 2d6, or 2d4, and says it does a certain amount of damage per hit. Is a hit counted for each die individually getting above 4, or does only the total count.
I’m fairly new to the TTRPG scene. I didn’t even know about itch.io until the middle of 2020, and didn’t plug into the indie Twitter community until 2021. Slayers, a rules-light monster-fighting RPG by Spencer Campbell, was published in September of 2020, and the experience of reading it over the past few weeks makes me wish to God I had been following its launch.
It's not designed to be played solo. I'm sure folks may be able to figure out a way to do it with an oracle system of some kind, but that isn't currently an option written or supported by the rules.
Slayers is an impressive exercise in design elegance with simplicity being expertly wrought into a fun, flowing and easy to pick up system that fits the tone and aesthetic of the game wonderfully! I absolutely love everything here! It's just so easy to pick up, play and create for, with a brilliant setting filled with flavour and endless potential.
If you want to be a cool, competent character that investigates and slays cool monsters in a wide variety of awesome settings, this honestly might just be the best game to play. It is an absolute Dragon game slayer!
Slayers has some of the single most inspiring TTRPG design I've ever seen. Combat is asymmetrical in that each class behaves and plays in completely unique ways. They aren't "balanced" in a traditional sense, but they play well together and that's way more important. It has a decent amount of crunch, while still being rules-lite enough that really the entire fucking world is open and that's honestly sick as hell.
This game is a D&D Killer in every sense of the word, it's some of the strongest design you'll ever come across in the indie space.
Outside of this, Slayers has one of the strongest SRD's, and Open Licenses you'll find, which means everyone can make (and is encouraged to make) Slayers content. So there is a huge group of 3rd party Slayers content. Unlike another D&D you don't owe Spencer your money for using the Open License, which means there is a bustling group of third party content you can find here.
I know what you're here thinking though:
"You know, this game looks good, but I wish it was set in the wild west instead"
And like hold onto your fucking boots partner because I'm about to rock your goddamn world
Dust, A Slayers Supplement
Dust is an official supplement for Slayers that drops a desert into the middle of the setting, adds a new class (The Deadeye, a Rifle wielding motherfucker), a ton of new high quality content/maps/art, and 4 new Wild West Adventures, including of course a train robbery
Side note I love a train robbery
Anyway, Slayers is well worth the money, and if you've made it this far into this post without going up to get it what's wrong with you it's so good go get it.
Hi! Mechanically they are the same, though this version includes some updated rules for the classes. In addition, this version has lots of information and resources for the GM to get the game started, multiple adventures, custom art, and a much bigger collection of monsters!
One of my favorite game (and my players too). It's easy to learn, fast, amusing and the asymmetrical gameplay is SO SATISFYING. Plus, the community is very cool, lot of creations are coming, classes, monsters, districts... A must-have
What do you get when you cross a rules lite system, a rogue like environment, and fantasy monsters? You get Slayers, that's what! The rules are light enough that combat feels natural while it is happening, and the downtime will be enjoyable as there aren't things that bog it down with the endless minutia of finding the last hair of a skinless rabbit to obtain the final ingredient for that long sought after grimoire of unholdthinehandeth!
Slayers is a game that allows your table to delve deep into character development. This is done without the constant tracking of skills and advancements, yet it still allows everyone to feel as though progress is truly being made and is significant.
Each class brings its own unique flavor to the table as well. Whether as a blade or a gunslinger, each one has a unique mechanic that allows each one to shine in a different way. There are also more classes that are possible, and with the Creators Kit they can be brought to life!
Seriously though, grab Slayers. For the price of a fancy burger and fries, you can be out gathering intel on new districts as they appear.
EDIT: The following review is based on an older version of the game. It's at least tripled in size and content since then.
Slayers is a pen and paper rpg about monster-hunting in an infinite, self-generating city. It's also a heck of a good pick-up-and-play game, and basically perfect for one-shots or nights where a few folks don't show and you need a new game on the fly.
In length, it's 23 pages, with relatively bare layout and a little bit of art at the beginning that escalates to a lot of art by the end when you hit the monsters section.
Mechanically, however, Slayers is very solid throughout. It's a combat-driven game, with the PCs' ultimate purpose being to track down and eliminate a monster, and Slayers has a good crunch to it without getting too complicated. There's HP, but not massive amounts, and any damage feels significant. There's skills, but not a boatload, and each one feels relevant and useful. Rolls use a variety of dice, but always succeed on at least one 4+. Characters are Class-based, and there's only four Classes, but they feel *very* different and there's a lot of room for mechanical customization in each.
The setting isn't described in great detail, leaving it very open-ended, but there are a lot of GM tools, including a sample scenario, a bestiary, a GMing guide, and a single-page quick reference for the system rules.
Overall, I would strongly recommend Slayers to groups that want solid, game-y feeling mechanics in an otherwise lightweight system. And I'd recommend it especially to groups that like a focus on combat and gothic atmosphere.
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Love this game, somehow didn’t realize version 1.5 existed for 2 years. On page 12, the three Distances are in a low-contrast white with the page background’s off-white. Could you change this? At the moment it’s hard to read.
Finally I'm about to master it! I imagine the number of PCs at the table can influence the difficulty of encounters, right? My golden number is 3 PCs. They're going to have a tougher time than if there were 4, aren't they?
3 isn't inherently harder than 4, because the GM can shape the encounters to fit the group size
Hey! I've just realized that I've got an old version of the game but don't have access to the newer version, is this a mistake or am I meant to buy the game again for the updated content?
Hi, big fan of your work, I got a group playing LIGHT right now and having a blast, and a few months back we ran a couple games of Slayers and all agreed to come back to it at some point.
One thing I wanted clarification on, if I could-- I noticed that the Tactician was making encounters trivial with their Execute Plan special action. I know you typically eschew the concept of balance, but I wanted to make sure we're interpreting the class correctly. Can they use Execute Plan as often as they like in a round? For example, if the Blade keeps on whiffing, can they keep on replacing the Blade's dice for their combo? Are there any restrictions on usage whatsoever? I noticed that the description specifically says it's not an action, which is what led to the assumption that they can use it on as many targets as many times as they like.
The group I play with is already quite large (six people) so to make a fun fight I already have to have quite a few enemies, but if a Tactician is using their increasingly enormous pool to make every teammate attack hit and every enemy attack miss, I feel like I'd have to balloon enemy ranks to the point of absurdity.
Just wanna make sure we're on the same page.
I got this as part of a bundle in 2020, but it looks like an old version that’s no longer available.
same here, I got the old version as part of the racial justice bundle and its no longer accessible. Is there any way for us to access the either the old or the new versions?
The old version should still be downloadable using the download link in the bundle. It gave me an error page when I first tried it, but it worked for me the second time I tried it. It’s still the old version tho, not 1.5.
It's no longer available for download unfortunately. Or at least I couldn't find it through your suggested method.
Try here: https://gilarpgs.itch.io/slayers-old
Unfortunately, no luck there. It reads:
"You do not have access to this page
This game has been restricted by the author and can not be downloaded. The owner of the page must give permission to those they wish to access the page. If you think this is a mistake, please get in touch with support.
Go to Gila RPGs's page"
Hello, any possibility on getting a community copy?
There will be new community copies?
After so very long of loving this game as a text and from afar, I got to run it for a group tonight and had so much more fun than I was even expecting. I ran Alex Rinehart's The Show Must Go On from Harrowing Hunts (Vol 1) and set it in J. R. Zambrano's The Canvas. Truly can't wait to play more and will definitely be working on creating my own Hunts and other bits.
I'm so glad you got to play and had a great time with it!
Will there be community copies available again? I really wanna play this but I'm in a rough spot and my currency doesn't translate well to USD :(
I just bought a copy to run this for my college's tabletop club, I've talked to a few friends who already seem interested. This game seems really good for some of my friends who are less into TTRPGs than me since the rules are so simple, which is definitely a bonus, and at the same time has enough complexity and opportunity to do cool stuff that I'm just as excited to play it.
Awesome! I hope you all have a ton of fun with it.
I like the premise and the artstyle already. I'll likely pick this up either way down the line, but are there any community copies coming soon?
So, I ran the Lord of the (Un)Dead for two of my gaming groups this week. So GM friendly and the synergies between the classes creates a dynamic flow to combat my players loved. Having run a lot of Drifters you can really see it's influence on this iteration of the system, and that's great. Another great game Spencer.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm really glad you're enjoying the two games.
This looks so cool! Is there a solo variant?
There isn't one yet!
This game is rad! It reads so easily and is so well layed out. The design is just excellent!
Hi. I just wanted to ask whether the 'old' Slayers will be updated to 1.5 at some point or if I would have to buy a new copy to receive the update.
Any chance for more community copies?
we recorded a prologue session for our slayers one shot! using a setting from the slayers almanac and a couple third party classes linked in the description! we had a lot of fun, and will definitelyh ave more when we get too combat
Very cool!
the hunt session is out
Congrats on the 1.5 release, Gila RPG team! It looks badass. I will definitely give it a try!
thank you!
this looks sick, the timing was a bit inconvenient for my slayers game but i'm hyped nonetheless
If you're checking out Slayers and want to see what's new with the latest update, this video should help!
I purchased a physical copy a while back. Love it!
Will there be an Errata PDF for book owners or will obtaining the updates require a separate purchase of the new PDF?
You should already own the PDF if you bought a physical copy! If you can't access it for some reason, shoot me a DM on Twitter @GilaRPGs and I'll make sure you have it!
I don't have a Twitter account. Could I reach out by email or Discord? I ordered my physical copy directly through Gila when they went on a clearance sale.
Sure thing, shoot me an email at gilarpgs AT gmail dot com
Woah, there's new art and big revisions in the "page content" here. Looks good! I tried downloading the PDF again, but it seems it hasn't been updated yet. Can we expect an update on that soon?
Update should be coming today!
Wow, yeah! Looks really good! Congratulations!
I think that the church of the cycle is a really neat concept and I want to integrate it into my slayers games
If something rolls 2d6, or 2d4, and says it does a certain amount of damage per hit. Is a hit counted for each die individually getting above 4, or does only the total count.
for each die that rolls 4+
thank you
I’m fairly new to the TTRPG scene. I didn’t even know about itch.io until the middle of 2020, and didn’t plug into the indie Twitter community until 2021. Slayers, a rules-light monster-fighting RPG by Spencer Campbell, was published in September of 2020, and the experience of reading it over the past few weeks makes me wish to God I had been following its launch.
Wow, thank you so much for posting this and the kind words!!
Where can I find some rulings on mechanics? There are a few questions my table has due to people having different interpretations of things.
Gila RPG team, i read it when checking the Kickstarter of Slayers Almanac,
Will Slayers 1.5 have entirely new arts inside the book when it is released?
There will be new layout and art, though I can't say yet if it all will be new or just some of it.
Thank you so much for the response, Gila RPGs team. I understand.
I have tried NOVA and my friends and i are loving it.
I am really excited to try SLAYERS too! The mechanics are light and simple but give quite a depth to character customizations.
I highly recommend SLAYERS too to you guys.
This is a brilliant design! It's not like anything I've seen from other creators and looks really fun to play and adapt.
Thank you so much!
Can this game be played SOLO?
It's not designed to be played solo. I'm sure folks may be able to figure out a way to do it with an oracle system of some kind, but that isn't currently an option written or supported by the rules.
Thank you for a community copy. I love LUMEN, and this game as well.
Enjoy the game!
Excited to try and work on some homebrew content
lots of fun
Slayers is an impressive exercise in design elegance with simplicity being expertly wrought into a fun, flowing and easy to pick up system that fits the tone and aesthetic of the game wonderfully! I absolutely love everything here! It's just so easy to pick up, play and create for, with a brilliant setting filled with flavour and endless potential.
If you want to be a cool, competent character that investigates and slays cool monsters in a wide variety of awesome settings, this honestly might just be the best game to play. It is an absolute Dragon game slayer!
My full review for this incredible game and hype for The Slayers Almanac Kickstarter: https://ko-fi.com/post/Slayers-Slayers-Almanac-Kickstarter-from-Spencer-J3J76PZK...
gosh this game is great! i love it a lot, and i can't wait to play it again!
Thank you so much! Heck yeah, glad you got to play it and hope you get to again soon!
Thanks for the Creator Kit.
I'm still going to publish games using your mechanics.
Slayers has some of the single most inspiring TTRPG design I've ever seen. Combat is asymmetrical in that each class behaves and plays in completely unique ways. They aren't "balanced" in a traditional sense, but they play well together and that's way more important. It has a decent amount of crunch, while still being rules-lite enough that really the entire fucking world is open and that's honestly sick as hell.
This game is a D&D Killer in every sense of the word, it's some of the strongest design you'll ever come across in the indie space.
Outside of this, Slayers has one of the strongest SRD's, and Open Licenses you'll find, which means everyone can make (and is encouraged to make) Slayers content. So there is a huge group of 3rd party Slayers content. Unlike another D&D you don't owe Spencer your money for using the Open License, which means there is a bustling group of third party content you can find here.
I know what you're here thinking though:
"You know, this game looks good, but I wish it was set in the wild west instead"
And like hold onto your fucking boots partner because I'm about to rock your goddamn world
Dust is an official supplement for Slayers that drops a desert into the middle of the setting, adds a new class (The Deadeye, a Rifle wielding motherfucker), a ton of new high quality content/maps/art, and 4 new Wild West Adventures, including of course a train robbery
Side note I love a train robbery
Anyway, Slayers is well worth the money, and if you've made it this far into this post without going up to get it what's wrong with you it's so good go get it.
What are the differences between this and the old version? Are they mechanically the same?
Hi! Mechanically they are the same, though this version includes some updated rules for the classes. In addition, this version has lots of information and resources for the GM to get the game started, multiple adventures, custom art, and a much bigger collection of monsters!
Thanks!
One of my favorite game (and my players too). It's easy to learn, fast, amusing and the asymmetrical gameplay is SO SATISFYING. Plus, the community is very cool, lot of creations are coming, classes, monsters, districts... A must-have
What do you get when you cross a rules lite system, a rogue like environment, and fantasy monsters? You get Slayers, that's what! The rules are light enough that combat feels natural while it is happening, and the downtime will be enjoyable as there aren't things that bog it down with the endless minutia of finding the last hair of a skinless rabbit to obtain the final ingredient for that long sought after grimoire of unholdthinehandeth!
Slayers is a game that allows your table to delve deep into character development. This is done without the constant tracking of skills and advancements, yet it still allows everyone to feel as though progress is truly being made and is significant.
Each class brings its own unique flavor to the table as well. Whether as a blade or a gunslinger, each one has a unique mechanic that allows each one to shine in a different way. There are also more classes that are possible, and with the Creators Kit they can be brought to life!
Seriously though, grab Slayers. For the price of a fancy burger and fries, you can be out gathering intel on new districts as they appear.
EDIT: The following review is based on an older version of the game. It's at least tripled in size and content since then.
Slayers is a pen and paper rpg about monster-hunting in an infinite, self-generating city. It's also a heck of a good pick-up-and-play game, and basically perfect for one-shots or nights where a few folks don't show and you need a new game on the fly.
In length, it's 23 pages, with relatively bare layout and a little bit of art at the beginning that escalates to a lot of art by the end when you hit the monsters section.
Mechanically, however, Slayers is very solid throughout. It's a combat-driven game, with the PCs' ultimate purpose being to track down and eliminate a monster, and Slayers has a good crunch to it without getting too complicated. There's HP, but not massive amounts, and any damage feels significant. There's skills, but not a boatload, and each one feels relevant and useful. Rolls use a variety of dice, but always succeed on at least one 4+. Characters are Class-based, and there's only four Classes, but they feel *very* different and there's a lot of room for mechanical customization in each.
The setting isn't described in great detail, leaving it very open-ended, but there are a lot of GM tools, including a sample scenario, a bestiary, a GMing guide, and a single-page quick reference for the system rules.
Overall, I would strongly recommend Slayers to groups that want solid, game-y feeling mechanics in an otherwise lightweight system. And I'd recommend it especially to groups that like a focus on combat and gothic atmosphere.
Hi!
I think you might be reviewing an older copy of Slayers, because the current PDF is 60 pages with a new layout and art!
But I appreciate your writeup and sharing your thoughts with the game!
Ah, darn. I'll update the review with a headline saying it's based on an older version. Thank you for catching this!
Thank you so much for the kind review, I really appreciate you taking the time!