Game Description
The Lost Age is tactical tabletop RPG that features the Ten system and the Tales from Khem campaign setting. The Ten system is a player focused system that frees GM’s to focus on story telling and combat while empowering players with interesting at table choices. Tales from Khem campaign setting, featuring people, places, and creatures inspired by the Bronze Age and our own world’s oldest myths and legends.
The PDF is purchasable on DrivethruRPG or you view the public facing website at The Lost Age.
Development
Role: Designer, Writer, CEO
Game Type: Tactical Tabletop RPG
Programs: Photoshop, In-Design, Word, Spreadsheets
Work I’m proud of:
- Kickstarted and shipped on time to high quality bar
Kickstarted High Quality Books
I was able to produce high quality print on demand books for Kickstarter backers. They look good and feel right when held in your hand. Some backers even chose a leather bound edition.
- Ran a successful Kickstarter that funded 150% and shipped on time
- Interacted with high tier backers for their custom monsters, NPCs, and gods printed in the book
Dynamic RPG System
The Ten System “solved” many of the problems I put to it. Location based damage, variable action speeds, diceless GM’ing, and player driven resource management. It did contain several flaws when bound together as a product but the lessons learned were invaluable.
Convention and Social Media
The Lost Age is a small game but I consistently ran sessions at local conventions to promote it. Gathering feedback, collecting ideas, and meeting great people along the way.
- Ran dozens of well received convention games
- Built up a small social media presence
Typical Work:
- Preparing and running playtests, collecting and addressing player feedback
- Developing adventures / scenarios, monsters, pregen characters, and maps
- Revising content, book layout, creating and revising character sheets based on playtest feedback
- Managing contractors for art, editing, and written content
Selected Content
The Story:
I started working on TLA in college, I always felt that TTRPG’s were either too hand wavy with their damage modeling (D&D) or too punishingly systemic (Glorantha). I also have a deep love of history and the bronze age- there’s so much mystery and story telling that can happen their.
By the time I decided to do the Kickstarter (5 years after starting) I had made a number of refinements from playtesting- there was too much going on as a GM to make the game enjoyable. So I worked on altering the system so that the players would perform the majority of rolls. It keeps them mechanically engaged and allows the GM to focus on the story and the environment. For the game feel it was important to get across a sense of player power and player agency. By spending a characters “HP” players could succeed otherwise failed rolls. So a player could mitigate their risks and avoid getting “cheated by the dice” by managing their own resources. It creates great game feel moments and empowers players to do heroic things.
In the end I had to solve a lot of issues around naming and teaching to overcome that in-built assumption by players – and was very successful once players got over the initial learning curve. The Lost Age is not a commercial success but it was an immense project that forced me to grow into new disciplines and flex a wide variety of skills. So in spite of the hundreds of hours, years devoted, and budget overages I am proud to have published my own RPG and shipped it to my backers in a timely fashion.
Commissioned Art
I contracted with several artists to establish a look and feel for The Lost Age. This included developing a contract, building good working relationships, art direction, and project management skills.
E-mail: Me@KeithLeiker.com 