PENANCE

ABSOLUTION THROUGH STEEL

Four centuries after the end, the dead still walk. Bound to iron shells. Seeking redemption through violence.

DOWNLOAD PLAYTEST PACKAGE ENTER THE CODEX

WHY PLAY PENANCE?

YOUR DECK IS YOUR LIFE

30 cards equal 30 hit points. Take damage, discard cards. When your deck empties, reshuffle and add blank "Damage" cards—dead draws that clog your hand. Every reshuffle makes you weaker. Death comes slowly, inevitably, card by card.

BRUTAL RANDOMNESS

Roll 3 custom d6 dice every attack. Defense dice can turn hits into misses—or critical wounds. Modifiers swing from +3 to -3. No attack is guaranteed. No defense is perfect. Every roll is a prayer.

BUILD YOUR WAR MACHINE

Choose weapons, shields, armor plating, and arcane sigils. Craft equipment from salvaged materials. Loot gear from fallen enemies. Smelt obsolete weapons for scrap. Your loadout changes your deck size, card composition, and tactical options.

FACTIONS PLAY COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY

Church pilots hurt themselves to empower attacks. Dwarves stack runic shields and wear enemies down. Undead drain life and resurrect from death. Elves stack bleeding wounds and regenerate passively. Each faction requires mastering unique mechanics.

PERMANENT CONSEQUENCES

Pilots gain scars that never heal. Settlements burn and cannot be rebuilt. Random events reshape your campaign. Discover cursed artifacts with terrible prices. Sacrifice parts of your soul for immediate power. Your choices echo forever.

VERSION 3.0 OPTIONAL MECHANICS

Three new advanced systems for enhanced tactical depth: Dice Pool Advantage (roll 3d6, take highest for dramatic crits), Taint Exploitation (spend corruption as tactical resource), and Pilot Grit (veteran resilience stat 0-3). All optional enhancements to v2.0 base rules. Learn More →

437 YEARS SINCE THE SUNDERING

Four centuries of war, ruin, and desperate survival. This is the chronicle of a world that ended in fire—and the dead who still walk its ashes.

~50,000 BCE

Elven Divergence

Homo Sylvanus evolves from humans through 50,000+ years of ley line exposure. Chlorophyll analogs develop. Lifespan extends to 300-400 years. Hidden in forests.

~40,000 BCE

Dwarven Descent

Homo Subterra adapts to subterranean life. Dense bones, enhanced low-light vision, resistance to toxic gases. Build underground cities. Population: ~1.5 million globally.

~1,200 YEARS AGO

The Veil Accords

Mages and non-human species sign agreement to remain hidden from mundane humanity. Memory-wiping, misinformation, debunking. Humans outnumber non-humans 1000:1. "Revealing magic would mean war."

YEAR 0

The Sundering

The Engine activates. Reality tears. Dr. Nikolas Theslar's final transmission: "It's singing. God help us, it's singing." The Veil collapses. All secrets revealed.

YEAR 52

First Living Pilot

Engineer Gareth volunteers for the prototype Casket. Six minutes of screaming. When they open the Casket, he won't leave. "I feel hollow without it." First living human successfully bonded to a Casket.

YEAR 78

The Ledger Opens

Bonelord Thresh signs his first soul contract. "Resurrection for your son. Your soul when you die. Read the fine print." She signs.

YEAR 134

The Great Schism

The Church splits over who deserves salvation. The Covenant of Broken Chains forms. Civil war lasts 80 years. No one wins.

YEAR 223

Betrayal at Roothold

The Church burns half the elven forests. "They sheltered the Tainted." The Church-Elf war begins. 214 years later, it has not ended.

YEAR 437

Present Day

Ten factions war across a shattered world. The dead still walk. The Engine still sings. No absolution has come.

READ FULL CHRONICLE

TEN FACTIONS OF THE BOUND

Ten factions war for control of a dying world. Each plays completely differently with unique mechanics, equipment pools, and win conditions. Balanced through extensive playtesting (v5.29-FINAL). Scroll to explore their twisted doctrines.

CHURCH OF ABSOLUTION

Aggressive Martyrdom

Self-harm for burst damage. Redirect damage from allies to yourself. Every enemy killed permanently increases your power. The more you suffer, the harder you hit.

Blood Offering
Discard 2 cards (self-harm) for +3 damage. Martyrdom Protocol redirects ally damage. Righteous Fury grants +1 damage per kill (permanent).

DWARVEN FORGE-GUILDS

Fortress Defender

Stack rune counters for massive damage reduction. Armor-piercing attacks ignore enemy defenses. Convert heat to devastating counterattacks. You don't lose—you outlast.

Rune Counters
Stack up to 3 Rune Counters (each blocks 4 damage, max -12 reduction). 32 HP base. Clan Vengeance: +2 damage per Component Damage taken.

THE OSSUARIUM

Necromantic Grinder

Corrupt enemies with Decay Aura spreading permanent Taint. Resurrect from death via Phylactery. Summon skeletal thralls. You don't need to win quickly—death is patient.

Decay Aura & Phylactery
Enemies within 3 hexes gain +1 Taint per turn. Auto-resurrect at 5 HP once per mission. Raise skeletal Thralls. Uses Decay cards instead of Damage.

ELVEN VERDANT COVENANT

Hit-and-Run Assassin

Stack bleeding wounds that never heal (max 8 Bleed). Leaf Dance to move, attack, and continue moving. Passive regeneration heals you constantly. Strike fast, bleed them dry, vanish.

Bleed Stacking
Enemies take damage at start of their turn (max 8 Bleed). Leaf Dance: Move 2 + attack + continue moving. Verdant Regeneration: Recover 2 cards per round.

THE WYRD CONCLAVE

Reality Bender

Fae trickster magic warps reality. Steal faces and identities. Manipulate probability and twist fate. No one knows what's real anymore—including you.

Wyrd Tokens
Accumulate Wyrd Tokens to warp reality. Steal enemy identities with Glamour. Trickster magic creates illusions that deal real damage.

NOMAD COLLECTIVE

Mobile Survivor

Salvage equipment from fallen enemies. High mobility and improvised tactics. Master of adaptability—you use whatever works, scavenged from the wastes.

Improvisation
Salvage equipment from enemies mid-battle. Enhanced movement and positioning. Flexible loadouts adapt to any situation.

CRUCIBLE PACTS

Fire Duelist Packs

Forge mastery and volcanic honor duels. Ancestral iron forged in sacred flames. Challenge enemies to single combat where only the strongest survive.

Forge Tokens
Accumulate Forge Tokens through combat. Duel mechanics force 1v1 honor battles. Fire-based attacks with escalating damage.

EMERGENT SYNDICATE

Hive-Mind Collective

Coordinated swarm tactics through shared consciousness. Metamorph evolution adapts to threats. Many bodies, one mind. You are legion.

Metamorph Tokens
Hive mind coordination grants action economy. Metamorph Tokens enable chosen evolution. Swarm tactics overwhelm through numbers.

VESTIGE BLOODLINES

Mutation Specialists

Five animal bloodlines offer unique mutations. Biomass Tokens fuel grotesque evolution. Racing extinction clock—adapt or die. You are humanity's last, desperate mutation.

Biomass Tokens
Choose from 5 bloodline variants (Wolf, Bear, Serpent, Raven, Stag). Biomass Tokens fuel mutations. Extinction clock adds time pressure.

THE EXCHANGE

Economic Warfare

Soul contracts and credit economy. Bribe enemies, hire mercenaries, control resources. Everything has a price—including victory. You don't fight wars. You buy them.

Credit Tokens
Accumulate Credits through economic actions. Bribe enemies to skip turns. Hire mercenary units. Resource control mechanics.
VIEW COMPLETE FACTION CODEX

PLAYTEST READY

The game is ready for table play. Four complete factions. Modular equipment system. Campaign event tables. Print, build, and battle.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

4
Complete Factions
3
Custom Dice Types
60+
Equipment Items
132
Event Tables
26
Bestiary Enemies
100
Anomalous Artifacts
Custom Dice System
Brutal Randomness
3 custom d6 dice (Attack, Defense, Suffering). Roll to-hit (base 5+) with tactical modifiers for range, cover, and positioning. Defense Dice create unpredictable outcomes. 39 cards optimized for dice manipulation (rerolls, accuracy buffs, auto-hits, miss compensation).
Equipment System
Modular Loadouts
60+ weapons, shields, plating, and sigils. Variable deck sizes (26-50 cards). Craft equipment from salvage. Smelt obsolete gear for Scrap. Loot cross-faction equipment from defeated enemies.
Campaign Systems
KDM-Style Events + Procedural Missions
132 Departure & Arrival events (2d6 rolls). Double rolls (11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66) trigger catastrophic/legendary events. Procedural mission generation with HP budgets (Easy 30-40, Medium 50-70, Hard 80-100, Deadly 120+). Settlement building, pilot scars, faction relationships.
Anomalous Content
Gothic Horror Classification
Latin classification system (Sanctus/Poenitentia/Damnatio/Absolutio/Terminus). 7 fully-statted anomalous entities. 100 artifacts on 1d100 table. Containment breach events. The Mirror Walker. The Void Shepherd. The Penitent Weapon. Reality-warping phenomena.

START PLAYING NOW

Everything you need for brutal tactical mech combat.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE PLAYTEST PACKAGE

4 factions • 3 dice types • 60+ equipment • 132 events • Campaign-ready