Legends of Dsyx

Legends of Dsyx

**Legends of Dsyx** is a fantasy setting for a series of roll-and-write games created by Robin Gibson and released over the course of 2018 and 2019. At present, all twelve games have been released to Board Game of the Month Club members.

## Tower of Mages

**BGOTMC 2018 January**

As long as there has been magic, there have been Mages' Towers. Tall, dilapidated structures built in wild curves to tap into elemental energy. As the Solstice approaches, three Wizards break ground on what
they're sure will be... Well, it will be a tower anyway.

Tower of Mages is a dice game for one player. Each of your three dice represents a scatterbrained wizard with a short attention span. Over the course of the game they will be working together to build a tower to gather elemental energies, convert them into valuable spells, and to predict and manipulate the spell market.

The game uses a sort-of-rondel mechanic. You roll your dice and choose which order to play them in. Each time you use a die, you count down the list of tower segments, starting at the last segment built.

There is also a market speculation aspect, all Elements begin at a value of -2. As the game progresses, you will roll dice to see how values grow and fall. To make the best of this, you can build high value
 rooms, destroy negatively valued rooms, cap towers to score them early, and gain rerolls to adjust the outcomes of the market.

*Tower of Mages* was originally released in 2017 by Robin Gibson's Metal Snail Idea Workshop.

* Tower of Mages at PNPArcade

## Hall of the Dwarven King

**BGOTMC 2018 February**

As a recently-crowned Dwarven King, you'd quite like a palace. Your followers would rather spend their days fighting amongst themselves and drinking. Good luck with that.

Hall of the Dwarven King is a dice game for one player. Each of your seven dice represents the whims of one of your followers, Sometimes they'll feel like mining or building, but just as often, they'd rather
drink or get into fights.

Try to order them around too much and they'll just walk off. So if you want a palace (Which, of course you do) you'll need to work around the Dwarves' inclinations, build Taverns and Gaming halls so they'll be happier doing what you say, or just bribe them if you have the cash.

*Hall of the Dwarven King* was originally released in 2017 by Robin Gibson's Metal Snail Idea Workshop.

* Hall of the Dwarven King at PNPArcade

## Goblins, Guns and Grog

**BGOTMC 2018 March**

Five Goblin Pirates, marooned on a deserted island by treacherous crewmates, cobble together a raft and set off towards home through the Goblund Gauntlet, a dangerous pass full of sharp rocks, shipwrecks and merciless fellow pirates. Surviving the trip would be great. Collecting a big pile of loot would be better.

Goblins, Guns and Grog is a solitaire roll-and-write adventure game in which players attempt to navigate a treacherous sea route to make it to the mainland. Each turn, the player rolls dice to "Scavenge" (add items to the inventory), "Attack" (if in possession of cannons), "Loot" (in case of a successful attack), "Move" (along the map track, always straight forward towards the destination), "Adventure" (if the turn has ended on one of the X's scattered along the track). Every turn ends with eating, depleting the meager store of food that, if exhausted, causes the player to lose the game.

Arriving at the end of the track is somewhat easy and is nominally considered a "win." But points are only scored for looting the many ships along the way. To engage with these potential prizes, however, the player needs both cannons (to attack) and chests (to store loot). The catch? At the start of the game, the player's "ship" is large enough only to hold a pair of cannons. The ship can be expanded through adding Tetris-like pieces to the hull, slowly expanding the size until the raft has become a formidable warship. But focusing on acquiring lumber, cannons, and chests means passing up opportunities to acquire food. Players must therefore decide when to push their luck and when to play it safe.

Will you be satisfied to return to the mainland, safely and with a full belly? Or will you risk it all to answer the siren call of gold?

* Goblins, Guns & Grog at PNPArcade

## Spellcraft Academy

**BGOTMC 2018 April**

Classes are almost out at Cliffspire Academy. As a first year Arcana student, your final exam is to create a functional spell scroll. The more impressive and varied the spells, the higher your marks.

Of course you can't get your cauldron tuned quite right, and your quill of inscribing is on the fritz, and what does "Aveum" mean again?

Spellcraft Academy is a solitaire roll-and-write game played on a grid of letters. The player rolls a die to navigate the grid, selecting letters and copying them on a separate, blank grid. Points are scored for each completed word, chosen out of a word bank. The words in the bank are classified as either "aspects," "elements," or "methods," and combining them -- having one word use letters from another -- is the way to score big points.

After there's no space left on the grid to inscribe more letters, the game ends, and points are tallied. A grading rubric tells the player whether they've passed the test... or failed, and need to take it again.

* Spellcraft Academy at PNPArcade

## Dragonvault

**BGOTMC 2018 May**

You are Citan the Gold, Dragon guardian of Merchants and Bankers.
There isn’t a coin of gold, silver, tin or jade in all of Dsyx that hasn’t been touched by your subtle hands. You had a busy day of treasure counting planned. Until the blasted heroes showed up looking to take it from you.

Dragonvault is a solitare roll-and-write game in which players take on the role of a dragon protecting its keep from treasure-seeking adventurers. Each turn, the player will roll dice to place traps at strategic locations along a winding path. At regular intervals, heroes (chosen by a die roll from a table) will show up and proceed along the path, triggering the player's defenses. Each hero has a special skill, however, giving them resistances and abilities to better thwart the beleaguered dragon.

Some heroes will fall; some will make it to the treasure store. After the time track has been exhausted, the player is scored based on how much treasure remains!

* Dragonvault at PNPArcade

## Seascrapers

**BGOTMC 2018 June**

A new city rises out of the seafloor. Pumice brick, ceramic and live coral form massive spiraling towers, bustling with the energy of thousands of beings. The merfolk have always lived a quiet agrarian life below the waves, but times are changing and the way forward is building up.

Seascrapers is a solitaire roll-and-write city-building game in which players attempt to develop an underwater metropolis. By rolling dice, players can build facilities to house builders(which allow for the rolling of additional dice), priests (which allow re-rolls of dice), and scholars (which allow for the creation of more advanced buildings). Players can also construct more specialized facilities, which can modify the effects of adjacent buildings or award points. The most lucrative points, however, come from buildings that scrape the very surface of the sea and emerge into the alien world above -- but these first require the development of vast infrastructure below.

Each turn, after dice are rolled and buildings are built, a space on the time track is crossed off. The end of this track represents the conclusion of the merfolk's efforts, and the city's score is tallied up for evaluation.

Can you balance the various classes of merfolk society to build towering seascrapers, or will your city end in a heap on the ocean floor?

* Seascrapers at PNPArcade

## Gryphon Delivery Service

**BGOTMC 2018 July**

Gryphon couriers have always been the backbone of trade in Dsyx. Fast, discreet, and formadible in the face of pirates and bandits. But Gnomish airships, Dwarven "Grease Tunnels" and the ever improving field of teleportation magic has left gryphon-run delivery services hustling for work. Coordinate your last few couriers on the most profitable run possible, contending with unpredictable winds, mischevious fairies, and coniving goblins, and maybe you won't have to close your doors.

*Gryphon Delivery Service* is a solitaire roll-and-write game where players attempt to move three characters -- gryphon couriers -- along a track from start to finish, while picking up and dropping off various items to turn a profit. Each space either yields an item, allows an item to be sold, or represents an encounter with one of the Dsyx world's various races that can offer players a windfall... or catastrophe. Instead of being sold outright, items can also be used instead to influence various markets, raising prices for (hopeful) future sales. Players must manage each of their characters, their special abilities, and their inventories well, because as soon as the first character reaches the end of the track, the game is over, and any items that were left undelivered represent lost opportunities to make precious gold.

The easy part is getting to the end of the game. The hard part is having anything to show for it. Succeed, and the courier service will live to see another day; fail, and hard-working gryphons will blame YOU for their unemployment.

* Gryphon Delivery Service at PNPArcade

## Mushroom Ale

**BGOTMC 2018 August**

Dwarves are fond of ale, but wheat sadly doesn't grow two miles underground. So, dwarves farm mushrooms. Their peculiar brand of ale has become prized the world over. When there's any left.

Mushroom Ale is a solitaire, print-and-play, roll-and-write farming simulation that takes place in the fantasy Legends of Dsyx setting.

An 8x8 grid represents an underground mushroom farm. Each turn, the player picks one row or column and rolls seven dice to determine what actions can be taken in that furrow. Some of those dice allow the soil to be tilled, seeds to be planted, and mature mushrooms to be harvested, while others allow dice to be rerolled or even indicate the growth of weeds. The better the crop, the better the ale will be!

But that's where the second part of the game begins: brewing. Even as farming continues, the mushrooms brew and age in casks adjacent to the farm. Many factors affect ale quality, from the original surroundings of the harvested mushroom, to master brewers (gained through dice rolls) improving the process, to the effects gained by eating other mushrooms (or drinking other casks of ale!).

The harvest season is short and different types of mushrooms grow at different times. Once the time track fills up completely, the game is over, so a dwarven farmer needs to be both a seasoned farmer and an expert alemaker to ensure that they will go down in the annals of Mushroom Ale!

* Mushroom Ale at PNPArcade

## Fairy Fair

**BGOTMC 2018 September**

The Fairies are having their Fair, and it's exactly as magical as it sounds! What's not so magical is the intense planning that goes into making the annual event a success. This year, the fairies have turned to YOU, fair impresario extraordinaire, to bring together all the elements needed for the grand occasion. Fail, and you'll let down not only the fairies, but all the kids of the various assorted fantasy races who have been looking forward to this magical night all year long.

Fair Fair is a solitaire, print-and-play, roll-and-write game that takes place in the Legends of Dsyx fantasy setting.

The player will roll dice to build various stalls and attractions inside a grid representing the fair grounds. Don't like what you've rolled? Roll again! Unlike in most roll-and-write games, players have UNLIMITED rerolls to make sure they get the fair just right. Unlimited, that is... until doubles come up, at which point the turn immediately ends without the chance to build anything at all. Sorry, but life isn't "fair!"

Once the time track representing the approach of opening night is completely filled in, however, is when the games -- and game -- REALLY begins. Now, the player must guide the revelers along the choicest path through the fair, stopping at the various attractions to play carnival games, eat fanciful foods, and ride the many magical rides. Attractions alongside this path will flourish, while those that receive no foot traffic will need to close.

Only those sights that remain open at the end of the fair will score points, and only by scoring high will the fairies even consider hiring you for the job again next year.

* Fairy Fair at PNPArcade

## Derelict Dirigible

**BGOTMC 2018 October**

The Dwarves have the earth, the Goblins have the sea, the Fairies have the forest, and what do the Gnomes have? A junkyard full of everyone else's trash. But soon enough they'll have the sky!

*Derelict Dirigible* is a solitaire roll-and-write adventure game in which players build an airship and use it to go on adventures. Each turn, the player rolls dice to scavenge resources; these resources can then be used to construct various airships parts. The parts are selected from a menu, all have different sizes and resource requirements, and must be connected in order to function, by being drawn by the player in a grid. Players must manage their resources and fuel to create a versatile airship, as adventures have specific lift and speed requirements in order to be successfully completed.

Once the last hourglass is filled in on the time track, the session is over and scores are calculated. Players can compete with others or themselves to earn the highest score, indicating airship virtuosity!

* Derelict Dirigible at PNPArcade

## Lockpicks

**BGOTMC 2018 November**

Treasure chests! Can't adventure without 'em, but they're a bear to open. Perhaps you're one of the heroes who has evaded the gauntlet of traps in Dragonvault; perhaps you're a pirate marauder surveying your booty in Goblins, Guns & Grog; perhaps you're just a generic treasure hunter in a generic fantasy RPG. Either way, a dozen chests are now staring you in the face, tantalizing you with promise of hidden treasure, and mocking you with their intricate locking systems. Good thing you brought your lockpicks!

Lockpicks is a solitaire, print-and-play, roll-and-write game that takes place in the Legends of Dsyx fantasy setting. The game picks up where most others end, with the hero surveying their acquired treasure. Now, the challenge is to open as many as possible of twelve chests and find the best prizes inside. Chests consist of small grids with start points, end points, and a number of waypoints, each of which must be activated in order to unlock the treasure. Each turn, the player picks one chest and rolls five dice. Each number corresponds to one type of movement based on units in chess. Beginning at the start point, the player must utilize the dice in any order to navigate the grid, activate each waypoint, and end at the finishing point. Upon successful completion of a puzzle, the player may roll a die to select one of several treasures, each of which may give just give points or even assist in the unlocking of more loot.

Time is running out, however, and if the player doesn't unlock all the chests before the time track fills up entirely, each additional turn runs the risk of alerting the guards/dragon/merchant/anyone and causing the player to lose ALL their prized possessions.

Good job beating whatever game you were playing; now, play Lockpicks to find out what happens after the credits have rolled. Will you be rich as a king, or as poor as you started?

* Lockpicks at PNPArcade

## Titans of Dsyx

**BGOTMC 2018 December**

n the days before Dwarves learned to dig and Goblins learned how to sail, Dsyx was ruled by the Titans. These giants of earth and stone built the land, made it lush or barren, for reasons unknown to the smaller folk.

Titans of Dsyx is a solitaire, print-and-play, roll-and-write game that takes place in the Legends of Dsyx fantasy setting. Players take on the role of Dsyx's legendary Titans, pre-historic and semi-legendary giants who terraformed the land and created the world as we know it.

Starting from any spot on the board, players roll dice to create different features of terrain and civilization, setting down hills, rivers, and towns on an empty map. But far from a sterile, lifeless environment, these features all react to each other, synergizing to create larger and larger terrain features, catalyzing each others' growth or destruction, or even calling down fiery meteors from the sky. Each completed feature is worth points, positive or negative, and oftentimes based on the proximity or presence of other features.

But the Age of the Titans is at its twilight, and the dawn of the age of the other races is fast approaching. The titans have only a precious few moment left -- as shown on a time track -- to create a lush world that will live in legend, or else an inhospitable wasteland that will cause later races to curse the titans for ages to come.

* Titans of Dsyx at PNPArcade