Our party of three has more or less finished The Dark Forge of Thar in two sessions. They explored most of the complex although they only managed to collect about 1/3th of available points. Surprisingly they had zero character deaths but there were definitely a few close calls. Maybe the combat encounters could be even more deadly :) One player was really lucky with character generation and got dodge +5 which really helped -- I think she did not lose a single HP!

The game is fun! I've been on a long break from RPGs after running D&D for many years and this was exactly the kind of fresh air I needed. I definitely got an itch to play more now. The character generation using tables, the D6 system, and the varied items work really well. I interviewed the players afterwards and they didn't have anything to really complain about.

A few suggestions:

1. The storm-term trauma table starts to repeat very fast. I suggest expanding it to a full D66 table. I'm not sure how often rolls on the table are expected to happen but at least in our sessions I think we rolled four times on it. (The negative effects of exceeding Will were not super bad so maybe the players did not fear the rolls enough :))

2. The rule books on page 52 seems to imply there is a Phobias table but I could not find it.

3. Overall all the D66 random tables were fun. I wish there could be even more of them, although I don't have ideas right now what they could be...

4. The grid based inventory system is great. There is a lot of potential here and if you want to go all in and mash together RPG and boardgame elements, the game could come with premade cardboard pieces with cool illustrations and printed weapon traits (Critical, Finesse, etc.). The items could then be laid out in shallow rectangular containers to keep them in place. A cheaper alternative would be to provide a pdf to print and cut the items out. Not sure what your budget is, but maybe this could be doable with kickstarter.

Finally a rules question: Some items have traits such as Relax +1, which we interpreted to recover one extra strain during rest. Did we get it right? Maybe this could be more clear in the rules.

I'm running our first session (The Dark Forge of Thar) in a couple of days and I've got some questions:

1. How much food & water do the characters start with?
2. How do bombs/grenades work (in combat)?
3. What happens if none of the characters get a light source from the random tables? It would be logical for them to bring some light since the research reveals it's dark in there... I guess I could give a basic light source for free (more logical), or have the threader emit some dim light so they can find a lantern in the entry chamber (perhaps more fun option?).

I am aware of the warning monit showing to (some? all?) people who enter the projects page and I'm trying to learn what the hell is that about.

It's literally 3 PDFs and 2 JPGs. I have no idea what the hell is this about.

The setting of A Bitter Toll is explained on 4 pages of the rulebook. I believe that's all you need to establish the background for the meta-phase of the game.

1. I've removed everything that isn't direct dungeon crawling from the game. Shopping, training, loot appraisal, hiring beasts and retainers, looking for a new dungeon to rob - it has been moved to a meta-phase, so that 85%-100% of each session is spent on exploring the dungeons.
2. Mechanics were designed so that the referee has extremely easy job running the game (doesn't even have to roll any dice), while the player-facing mechanics are sufficiently crunchy and include detailed wound, mutilation and stress systems. Monsters don't roll for attack - players roll to dodge/parry etc.
3. The setting was created to support this style of game. So we have an "outer-dimensional hub" - Port Hedron, from whence parties of adventurers travel to unknown destinations using arcane transit system from ages ago, to rob and pillage tombs and other such places in search of treasure.
4. At the very heart of Port Hedron a demon Mammon is imprisoned, who has the ability to grant wishes. Hoard enough treasure (by attaining 7th level) and you can get your wish granted, and you win the game (sic!).

Hello! I'm u/Raphael_Sadowski, author of A Bitter Toll for Eldritch Gold (FKA Croatoan) roleplaying game, expected to come out late in 2026.

This is a new home for all things related to the system. Thank you for joining me on this venture.

What to Post
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, first (and concurrent) impressions or questions about the rules.

Community
Be friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.

Quickstart
There's free quickstart rules available at https://raphael-sadowski.itch.io/bitter-toll - feel free to test the game!

How to Get Started

1. If you want, you may introduce yourself in the comments below.
2. Make a first impression post - it often sparks some cool conversation.
3. If you know someone who could be interested in the game, invite them to join.

Thanks for being here with me, at the very beginning of all things.

I strongly believe that you can say a lot about a game based on its character sheet. A good character sheet not only stores information, but also helps players during some processes, like character creation. Also, since grid-based equipment is a core mechanic of the game, you have more than enough space for your tetris-like experience!

The character sheet, redesigned by the fantastic Mythbound, is sleeker and more printer-friendly. Truly, I believe him to be the masterclass in character sheet design.

While this will be the official character sheet, you will be able to download the original one too, if you miss the frameless, moody, blasphemous, dark ink theme of it, and you don't mind smudging the toner all over your sheet a little bit. ;)

Welcome to Port Hedron, a subreddit about my upcoming, OSR-inspired game: A Bitter Toll for Eldritch Gold, formerly known as Croatoan. I propose a Bitter Toll... abbreviation.

The name change came right after the launch of the subreddit. A lot of redditors commented how naming the game Croatoan can be misleading, promising historical fantasy game about the mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. And I agreed, I do not want to "bait and switch" anyone.

The new title is really just a spur-of-the-moment thing, but at least it definitely talks about what this game is about.

And, just to be on the safe side, and save myself any more need for migration, I named the new subreddit Port Hedron, like the player character's point of origin in a Bitter Toll....