Death in Beringard - A Solo Fantasy Gamebook

In Death in Beringard, you are tasked with investigating the murder of Geron Wolfheart. The deceased was a respected captain of the "Wormslayers" — that notorious regiment stationed in the border town of Beringard and tasked with maintaining peace and order in the name of the Numedian Emperor. Wolfheart’s inglorious end would hardly be worth mentioning if he hadn’t died here. His death takes on particular significance due to the proximity to the hated grasslands of Yss. Are the Empire’s enemies now resorting to black magic? Your investigation leads you deep into the thicket of the gloomy garrison town and to the question of whom you can trust.

Death in Beringard will be published in March 2027 as a book in DIN A5 format (5.8 x 8.3 in). The gamebook will comprise approximately 250 paragraphs and 144 pages. In addition, there will be a premium box set with bonus content.

What type of gamebook is this?

Death in Beringard is a stand-alone solo RPG within the tradition of gamebooks like Lone Wolf, Fighting Fantasy and Fabled Lands, which I've always loved. This interactive book uses modern game mechanics to create the most varied and enjoyable game experience possible. The rules of the game are intentionally kept simple so you can start playing quickly. All you need is two six-sided dice (2d6) and a pencil.

Weapons and Character Sheet

Who will enjoy this gamebook?

Death in Beringard is a fantasy gamebook designed for readers from 12 years on. I am sure many older players will also enjoy this adventure. Having loved fantasy role-playing games since my youth, I want to create a high-quality gamebook with the atmosphere of an exciting role-playing scenario, set to become a jewel in your collection.

Like the previous projects, Death in Beringard will be published simultaneously in English and German. After the campaign has reached the necessary amount of money and is finished, you can pick your preferred language for your reward. There will be a survey on that.

The game system

For my gamebooks I have developed an independent game system, called The Numed System. It needs two d6 and is intended to be quickly accessible and easy to use. There are five attributes with values between +0 (very weak) and +3 (very strong). There is also a range of skills.

To successfully pass a check, a certain value must be achieved with a dice roll. The higher the dice roll, the better. Skills and attributes give bonuses. Battles work in the same way, except that the bonuses come from weapons/armor and attributes (dexterity/strength).

I use so-called fragments to control the progress of the game. They mark specific milestones in the scenario.

Regardless of this, many of my gamebooks have certain special rules that are important for the respective scenario. For example, there are rules for exploring a dungeon, for poison, illness or day and night in a town.

About the creator

My name is Christopher, I'm 46 years old and I live in Berlin. I've been passionate about gamebooks and fantasy role-playing games since I was 14 years old. It all started with Demons of the Deep by Fighting Fantasy, a Christmas present from my father. I continued with The Dark Eye, Midgard, Shadowrun and Battletech and others. Reading and gaming led to writing. By my mid-twenties I had written about ten fantasy scenarios, several solo adventures and many pages of source material.

And professionally? I continued with books there too. I worked in publishing for ten years, as an editor and as a marketing manager for several trade publishers. I have now successfully implemented seven gamebook campaigns on Kickstarter. I want to create books that I would like to read myself. It's important to me to draw readers into a fantastic world, to entertain them and to develop solid, interesting game mechanics.

The team

Christopher Willmann (Playtest): Christopher not only has the same name as the author, he was also his colleague some time ago. He worked quite some time as comic and manga editor in one of Germany's largest comic publishing houses. He changed industries and now creates and edits user manuals for software. When he is not testing and reviewing Chris' newest game books, he is playing pen & paper and computer games with his friends.

Kathrin Keienburg-Rees (Design): Kathrin and Christopher met twenty years ago at the theater magazine Fausto. He as editor-in-chief, she as chief graphic designer. Since then, they have been linked by a long-standing friendship. Kathrin has worked for numerous clients in industry and the service sector. She particularly enjoys designing books and other things made of paper. She likes Scandinavian design and the Moomins.

Julia Löwe (Editor): Julia is the latest addition to the team and met Christopher through mutual friends. Having worked as a free-lance translator for TV shows and being blessed with a bunch of English-speaking in-laws, she loves writing, translating and editing texts in both German and English. In her spare time she is a voluntary (and award-winning) author of the German Wikipedia, a die-hard bookworm and a passionate roleplayer.

Why Kickstarter?

I chose Kickstarter for two main reasons: On the one hand, I like the friendly and straightforward exchange with the role-playing community here. Ideas and suggestions are shared and passed on. You can tell people here really enjoy this kind of entertainment. For my creative mind, this is an inspiring, much appreciated environment. The second reason for Kickstarter is more technical and has to do with production. I've optimized the production of my gamebooks and supplementary material to avoid going into over production. Thanks to Kickstarter, production can be done with pinpoint accuracy. This means I don't have to store anything and, at the same time, I protect the environment.

Pledge Levels

You can choose whether you want the gamebook in print or just as a PDF. For a special gaming experience, there’s the Premium Box. It includes a setting description of the Three Moons Inn, a pad of character sheets, and the bonus short adventure Gathering at the Three Moons.

Gathering at the Three Moons

You shouldn't drink hard liquor with Twyl. If your best friend hadn't talked you into breaking into this mansion, you wouldn't be in this mess right now. You need to get rid of that statuette as soon as possible, or Cathalla will skin you alive! But where on earth is that fence?

Costs and Stretch Goals

With your support, you will finance the printing of the book, the translation, and some minor additional costs. You will also give me the time I need to write the adventure and produce it in high quality.

If many backers participate, I’ll offer several stretch goals because I’d like to share the success with you. In addition to bookmarks, maps, and additional adventure sections, there’s a chance that Gathering at the Three Moons will be unlocked as a PDF for all backers. I hope this keeps the campaign exciting and entertaining for all of us. 

• A bookmark for all physical backers.

• Additional 50 paragraphs for Death in Beringard (approx. 300 paragraphs).

• A pre-made character (+Wooden standee for Premium Box Set).

• A map for all physical backers.

• An additional one-page gamebook (PDF) for digital and physical backers.

• Gathering at the Three Moons (PDF) for digital and physical backers.

Shipping

More gamebooks

This project is promoted by Jellop, the ad tech power behind the best Kickstarters with 3,500+ successful Kickstarter projects with over $1B raised between them.