Sow the Sorrowful Field

Many tabletop roleplayers are intrigued by the idea of using a strategic wargame as a prelude to an RPG campaign. Rather than pulling a game off the shelf and hoping it produces a compelling story, this game is intentionally designed with that use in mind. Played as part of a "session zero" of an epic fantasy RPG campaign, this game serves as a locus for some world- and backstory-building and specifically helps establish the events of a critical battle between an epic threat and the grand alliance that hopes to stop it. The individuals that survive the battle can be PCs or NPCs who start already grounded in the important events of the world.

This game was originally designed as part of the Refraction Jam for tabletop RPGs.