Ink Blade Publishing

Ink Blade Publishing

Is a solo part time project (I say part time, it's most of my time at this point!) to create a TTRPG toolbox system that allows players and game masters to swap fairly seamlessly between genres and settings. The overall theme of Encore are the pixel visuals, leaning role playing into retro video gaming, terminology and gameplay will hopefully simulate that of an old school game.   

Goals of Encore

Some of the major goals I am attempting to achieve through the development of this game are:

• Ease of Genre Transitioning

I've struggled in the past to keep a group of players entertained with one system. Players wanting to try new settings and genres of games unfortunately forces the GM and players alike to learn a whole new set of rules. This can be exciting and certainly makes a nice change if everyone involved is used to system swapping. However, Encore is mainly aimed at a more beginner friendly audience that may only want to learn one system at first. Encore will feature a guide for the 'Core' rules and then additional guides for specific settings, adding extra content and setting specific rules/mechanics. This will allow players and GM's to easily transition into new games.

• Beginner Friendly, Veteran Intriguing

Encore's base gameplay is easy to understand as it uses only 3 Attributes. The core system is broken down into simple mechanics, with a character sheet that keeps track of important information and quick access to values that help reduce on the spot mathematics, (something I was never very good at it!). This was designed in a way to allow new players to get hold of the system in a way that more complicated systems might struggle to do so.

• Creative Freedom & Design Continuity

Having a design background for my career, and my personal hobbies. I've always loved systems that give the player/creator a sense of freedom. With this goal in mind I will provide complete tilesets and sprite sheets with each edition.  The tilesets will allow creators to design different environments easily without having to worry about their own artistic abilities or gathering battle maps from other sources. Sprites can easily be edited, or created (hoping to host an Encore Character Creator in the future) for gameplay. With the running theme of pixel visuals, the artwork throughout the different games and editions will remain true to the retro video game feel.

Solo Project

As creating Encore is a solo project, that means that guides take a long time for me to write and create. Patience and community assistance is most certainly welcome, please feel free to interact with me and the development through any social media linked.

Twitter

Instagram

The Encore Universe

The Encore system will have multiple editions. The aim is to create a system that allows the freedom of moving to a different setting/gametype without having to learn 300+ pages of new rules of a whole new system. Each edition works with the Encore 'Core' guide, but will have their own guide for new content and specific rules.

Encore: Kingdoms - Monarchs, Monsters and Magic! (Under Development)

Encore: Starscapes -  Science, Space and Stars! (Planned Development)

Encore: Wild West - Cowboys, Caravans and Campfires! (Planned Development)

Encore: Tactical - Surveillance, Squads and Synchronised Watches! (Planned Development)

... and many more to come!

A goal in mind during development is to have each edition collaborate with each other. This will allow players to take the broader genres and let them create subgenres of their own. 

For example, taking rules and content from Encore: Starscapes and mixing in Encore: Kingdoms will let players create and play in a world of Medieval Science Fiction Fantasy. Integrating genres and editions is the... 

The Ultimate Encore Experience (Sounds really corny but I kinda like it!)

Encore Themed Mini Games

Check out these free mini games, based on the works of Encore.