Fractal RPG is a game system designed on the idea of fractals: never-ending geometric patterns. At a grand scale, it is a setting-agnostic game system that could be applied to many different games and game worlds. At a more granular scale, dice are our pattern. Dice echo through our game, with everything from creatures and items to rituals and challenges, all defined by varying sized dice. We sought complexity through simplicity, and the idea of reflection through story and mechanics.

Dark Vigil was first conceived, as a setting, in mid 2019. Like many projects, it was discussed but never really went anywhere. Then came the COVID19 pandemic. Locked at home with not much else to do, I began to take a closer look at this idea of building my own setting and gameworld. Like many GMs, I’d messed around with hacking other game systems but building my own completely from scratch was new. Together with a friend, the first iteration of the Fractal RPG system took shape, and then the second and the third. Friends were dragged in to play it as we tried out different rule sets and different settings. D20s, d6s, dice pools…pretty much anything you could do with dice, we tried.

By the time we actually got to play it in public, at the Conquest 2022 convention (Melbourne, Australia), Dark Vigil was on its sixth or seventh version. By this time we already had the core mechanics in play, that of corruption and the fall of one’s humanity and the “everything is a die” concept.

We returned from Conquest with plenty of feedback, and we took that into our next run at the rules. Armed with newly corrected rules, and this time with designed character sheets as well, we hit PAX 2022 and then after that, Conquest 2023. Each time, we returned with feedback on how to improve and change it, with changes becoming smaller and more nuanced each time. People involved in the project came and went too, with my original development partner dropping out and other friends stepping in to offer their perspective.

Now, with PAX AUS 2023 approaching and the launch of the Dark Vigil Quickstart, I’m looking forward to seeing where we can go next!