# Forgotten Ruin: the Adventure Wargame tags: #game/wargme/forgotten-ruin ![[Forgotten Ruin (cover).jpg]] ## Summary **Forgotten Ruin: The Adventure Wargame** is a solo or cooperative tabletop miniatures game where you, in a rather weird twist of fate, command a squad of modern soldiers inexplicably transported to a fantasy world teeming with orcs, magic, and other inconveniences. Powered by the **Five Leagues from the Borderlands** system, this stand-alone game tasks you with navigating a procedurally generated campaign. You'll create your own squad of nine soldiers—because of course they're elite rangers—and lead them through a series of missions, hoping they don't all end up as troll chow. The whole affair is designed for a compact 3x3 foot playing area, so you won't have to conquer much actual territory to play. As your squad survives, they gain experience, loot, and bizarre magical transformations, because who wouldn't want a were-tiger manning the machine gun? ## Core Mechanics You'd think advanced technology would simplify things, but you still have to roll dice. The game's core resolution mechanics are, thankfully, straightforward enough for even the recently deceased to comprehend. ### The Reaction Roll & Activations Each battle round begins with a **Reaction Roll** to determine who acts and when. You roll a number of six-sided dice (D6) equal to your number of soldiers on the table, plus an extra die for each character with the **Leadership** skill. You then assign one die to each of your soldiers. - If the assigned die's value is **equal to or less than** the soldier's **Reactions** score, they get to act in the **Quick Actions Phase**. - If the die is **higher**, they're stuck acting in the **Slow Actions Phase**. The enemy, bless their predictable hearts, always acts in the **Enemy Actions Phase**, sandwiched between your quick and slow phases. ### Combat Resolution Actually hitting something involves a simple D6 roll. - **Shooting:** When one of your soldiers fires a weapon, you roll 1D6 for each **Shot** the weapon has, add the soldier's **Combat Skill**, and try to meet or beat a target number. This number varies depending on range and whether the target is cowering in cover (3+ for close and open targets, 4+ for open targets at range, and a hopeful 6+ for targets in cover). Enemies shooting back have it a bit easier, needing a 5+ for an open target and a 6+ for one in cover, but they don't add their Combat Skill. - **Hand-to-Hand Combat:** This is a more personal and simultaneous affair. Both combatants roll a D6 and add their **Combat Skill**. The poor soul with the lower total score takes a **Hit** and is pushed back 1 inch. On a draw, both characters take a Hit, because sharing is caring. - **Damage:** Taking a Hit isn't the end. To see if it's more than a flesh wound, the attacker rolls a D6 and adds the weapon's **damage rating**. If the total is **equal to or greater than** the target's **Toughness**, they become a casualty and are removed from play. If it's less, your soldiers just get **Stunned**, while enemies shrug it off entirely. Some creatures are lucky enough to have a **saving throw**, which can negate the Hit entirely on a successful D6 roll. As this is a stand-alone game based on the mechanics of **Five Leagues from the Borderlands**, there isn't a prior edition of **Forgotten Ruin: The Adventure Wargame** itself to compare. However, the document notes for veteran players of the "Five X" series (**Five Parsecs from Home**, **Five Leagues from the Borderlands**) that while the core ideas are similar, many things "work slightly differently to accommodate the style of combat and adventure of the **Forgotten Ruin** setting," such as how entering hand-to-hand combat is resolved. ## References - [Forgotten Ruin - The Adventure Wargame](https://modiphius.us/products/forgotten-ruin-the-adventure-wargame) - [Forgotten Ruin Series by Jason Anspach - Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/series/312615-forgotten-ruin) - [How to Choose a Core Resolution Mechanic : r/RPGdesign - Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/17pbunl/how_to_choose_a_core_resolution_mechanic/) > [!note] Editor's Note > > Related games from the same author include: > > - [[Five Parsecs From Home]] > - [[Five Parsecs from Home - Tactics|Five Parsecs from Home: Tactics]] > - [[Five Leagues from the Borderlands]]