Bust Out Your Neon Colored Pencils for the Hyper Light Drifter Tabletop RPG

Published: September 10, 2019 4:55 PM /

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hyper light drifter header

Indie darling Hyper Light Drifter is back on Kickstarter with a new tabletop RPG! Named Drifter, the famously silent and mysterious indie action RPG is heading even further into the realm of player imagination with a brand new, custom-built roleplaying game system developed from scratch for the game. The Kickstarter takes pains to mention that this RPG system will take place in the same world as the video game, but on an entirely different continent (so as not to ruin and over-explain the secrets of the original).

Hyper Light Drifter RPG
Character classes in the Hyper Light Drifter RPG.

For the Kickstarter, they're creating a starter box modeled after a SNES box, a gamebook of around 100 pages teaching the core mechanics of the game, a setting book of over 160 pages, described as a "systemless book, detailing a new continent of the HLD universe. Each zone detailed out containing, points of interest, characters, adversaries, rumors, discoveries and more!" And access to a new online community for the TRPG.

The game itself will see players and a game master exploring the ruins of this new continent, exploring abandoned facilities, scavenging for valuable resources, and unearthing mysteries from years long past. Mechanically, the game will use a D20 system, with only players rolling dice (this is a growing theme, as it shows up in NumeneraSymbaroum, and more). Actions also include the use of energy pools, difficulty thresholds, dashes to negate damage, and a combat board which will apparently "provide relative positioning while not complicating it enough to bog down the speed of combat."

Hyper Light Drifter RPG
HLD RPG Character Sheet

The Kickstarter runs until October 13th, with pledges at the $15 level getting you access to a pdf of the rule book. It'll cost you $55 for the full SNES-style game box, and it's important to note that this game is being made in collaboration with, but not by, original video game creators Alx Preston and Heart Machine. As explained in an FAQ question, "we're given creative license to build out our continent, however Alx will be serving as a overseer of the world and the art we're creating to ensure that we're staying true to the HLD universe."

Hyper Light Drifter RPG
HLD RPG Combat Board Overlay

Dash on over to the Kickstarter now to bring the Hyper Light Drifter world to your rec room!

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| Tabletop Editor

Giaco Furino joined the TechRaptor team as a Staff Writer in 2019 after searching for a dedicated place to write and talk about Tabletop Games. In 2020, he… More about Giaco