DisUnion

DisUnion is a hybrid Skirmish Wargame built on the DURF ruleset, created by Emiel Boven.  It's this year's entry to DURF Jam 2024.

The goal of the game is to be able to shift between TTRPG and Skirmish play without changing the rules.  

The first half is a setting agnostic set of skirmish wargame rules where the players run crews of approx. five miniatures each. It is focused on quick resolution and is inspired by the genre of fast playing skirmish games like Frostgrave and The Doomed.

The second half of the game is the setting, a remix/inversion of part of Dante’s Inferno. On the borders of the City of Dis, the players explore the changing fens and ruins caused by the overflowing river Styx.  The players work for the Near Utopias of Dis, recovering artifacts from the broken outskirts of the City, trying to keep ahead of the menace from across the river; the Commodity with its Dog Soldiers and starving Angels.

FAQ

• Why did you do this?

I like TTRPGs and I like  tactical combat, especially in Skirmish Wargames. I haven't run into a good set of rules that manages group and unit combat in the TTRPG space. So I thought that DURF might help bridge that gap.

• Is it done?

Done-ish? 

You could absolutely take this and get a quick skirmish game going.  Based on the playtesting a skirmish game, with about 15 - 20 miniatures, will run about an hour on a 3x3 board. It's simple and fast. Also messy with the addition of abilities and randos.

The rules for campaign play are still pending. And you'll have to refer to DURF for things like inventory etc.

• Simple? I don't believe you. How do you play?

Randomly draw your turn. Take two actions. The first action always succeed, including combat (the defender still gets to roll defense). On the second action, get 15 or higher on a d20 plus modifiers. That's pretty much it.

• I don't have miniatures and terrain.

Anything to make a dense board will work, from blocks to bits of models or toys. Minifigs, whatever you have kicking around. 

• I don't get the setting.

It flips Dante's City of Dis around so the heretics are the good guys.  But it's pretty open and doesn't get into a ton of detail.  That's the agnostic part. Your crew could be out of a fantasy genre or something like the first world war. Or both. There's all kinds in the Near Utopias of the City of Dis.

• What's next?

Playtesting. Building out the setting. Loot. Working out how to transition logically between wargame and more traditional RPGs. Fixing typos.

If you like what you see (or you don't) let me know in the comments. I appreciate the feedback.  

It'll stay as a free download while it grows.