Heroes of Cerulea

The world is locked in a perpetual cycle of conflict between good and evil—the Guardian and the Paragon bravely defend the world against the Shadow King and his horde of monsters. All three have been reborn numerous times throughout history.

Now, the Shadow King has returned once more. But the Guardian and the Paragon are still nowhere to be seen… New heroes must come to Cerulea’s aid!

Heroes of Cerulea is an adventure tabletop role-playing game where you explore dungeons, fight monsters, solve puzzles, gather keys, find new items, and defeat bosses.

Lo-fi art and rules; high playability.

It’s heavily inspired by the classic Legend of Zelda games, and by old-school role-playing.

Get the print version here.

Video Game Logic

In this game, a key works in pretty much every lock—but it disappears when used. Characters heal through eating food, and for some reason, random pots contain money, arrows, and bombs—and boomerangs can bring those items to you. Monsters are evil; NPCs are focused on one single thing. Dungeons are designed for heroes to solve them.

Heroes of Cerulea embraces those aspects, in order to facilitate a peculiar role-playing experience.

Lo-Fi Rules

Characters have three attributes: 
▶ MIGHT (push, attack, heave, wreck)
▶ BRAVERY (jump, defend, climb, resist)
▶ INSIGHT (discover, shoot, tinker, persuade)

Only players make action rolls. Based on your character’s action, pick the most appropriate of attribute, and roll as many D4s as your value in that attribute. The highest individual die result counts:
▶ 1–2 = Failed action, with a consequence
▶ 3 = Successful action, with a consequence
▶ 4 = Successful action, without any consequence
▶ Additional 4s = Extra successful action

Like heroes, monsters have Heart ratings, which varies between different monsters. Each successful attack against a monster depletes 1 of its Hearts—when the monster has 0 Hearts left, it’s defeated. A monster’s attack (normally) depletes 1 of a hero’s Hearts, when the hero rolls a 3 or lower on a combat action roll.

Bosses are like monsters, except tougher and more dangerous. They also have particular action movesets, special abilities, and certain weaknesses—for more memorable and dynamic confrontations.

High Playability

The game comes with a ready-to-play campaign. It’s an epic quest consisting of four thematically diverse dungeons.

The Shadow King has split the Trinity into three fragments. He has hidden each of these fragments inside a dungeon, with a boss to protect it. Once the heroes have gathered all three fragments, they can enter the Cerulean Citadel and face the Shadow King.

▶ Woodland Temple. Restless spirits are haunting the Gloomwood, and skeletal monsters have started to terrorize nearby farms. It’s said that there is an ancient temple somewhere deep within the woods. Can the heroes break the curse and lay the spirits to rest once more?

▶ Lake Tower. In Paragon Lake, sea monsters are attacking boats and scaring away fishermen. The monsters’ lair lies inside a mysterious building, that recently rose from the depths. Can the heroes cleanse the lake from evil?

▶ Cavern of Flame. The volcano of Mount Oblivion has awoken! It’s spewing burning rocks, magma, and ash into the air. Something must have disturbed its slumber—do the heroes dare to venture into the fiery mountain to find out what’s going on?

▶ Cerulean Citadel. The royal castle of Cerulea has been overtaken by the Shadow King. The citadel is shrouded in an impenetrable barrier of dark energy. Only someone carrying all fragments of the Trinity could dispel the barrier and enter the castle. But who knows what dangers await them inside…

The book also includes tools for creating your own dungeons.

▶ Step-by-step method for generating a distinctive dungeon with diverse challenges.

▶ Random tables for themes and architecture, challenges, monsters and bosses, as well as loot and items.

▶ Tips for how to bring it all together.