Bloodheist is a full tabletop RPG, presented in zine format. The pitch is simple: Dracula won, and the Undying Empire he built is ruled by immortal, squabbling vampire clans. You will play as a gang of criminals, hired by a powerful vampire to steal a valuable object from a rival. Human or undead, your characters are outsiders, unaffiliated with any one Great House, hired for the jobs that can't be traced back to your employer.
The game uses a simple d6-based ruleset, where the core resolution mechanic sees players accumulate small dice pools and attempt to roll at least one six. All rolls are player-facing, leaving the GM free to concentrate on providing humour, thrills, and suspense. The system is light, flexible, and easy to teach, perfect for one-shots or quick campaigns.
Inside the zine you will find:
- An introduction to the Undying Empire - Bloodheist's comedic, gothic setting.
- Complete rules of play.
- Character generation procedures for human and vampire Thieves.
- Six Professions - Thief archetypes, each with their own set of unique tools and skills.
- Twelve Rituals - the supernatural blood-magics that can aid your Thief in strange and horrible ways.
- A full suit of Follies and Dooms - manias and curses that are inflicted on your Thief when things don't go to plan.
- The Secrets system, which gives the Thieves secret agendas and objectives through the use of a deck of playing cards.
- A solid serving of GM guidance, helping create memorable heists, characters, and twists for your players.
- Random dice tables for sparking ideas - locations, valuable objects, NPCs, and more.
- A sample heist - The Crimson Countess - in which the players embark on a daring train robbery.
Also included: a copy of Penny De Redful's Scandal Sheet. Penny De Redful is one of the Undying Empire's premier wagging tongues, and her Scandal Sheet is the most talked-about publication in vampire Society. Penny's venomous screeds are presented as an in-universe document, filled with scurrilous stories that enterprising GMs can use as the seeds for heists.
The zine is fully illustrated by Lewis Garvey, in midnight black, corpse white, and glorious, gory red.